Abstract:
The choice of appropriate remedies is a major concern in all legal spheres, yet little has been done to determine which remedies people actually prefer. Scholarly debates on this issue are typically based on theoretical arguments and intuitions rather than experimental or empirical data. It is often assumed that people are indifferent between in-kind and monetary remedies of equal pecuniary value. Consequently, some scholars have argued, for instance, that people ordinarily view a contractual obligation as an option to either perform in-kind or pay expectation damages.

This Article challenges the conventional wisdom that monetary remedies are usually a satisfactory substitute for in-kind redress. It presents new experiments that examine the choices laypersons and experienced businesspeople make between remedies and entitlements. The findings establish that members of both groups strongly prefer in-kind entitlements and remedies over monetary ones. For example, they would rather be given the very thing to which they were entitled than receive a monetary substitute, however accurately calculated. It is therefore possible that damages routinely fail to provide adequate compensation, even when they pertain to fungible, easily quantifiable assets.

Since promoting individuals’ welfare is a major concern for legal policy-making, ignoring the preference for in-kind redress may lead to both inefficiency and unfairness. The Article offers various normative implications of the experimental findings, through the discussion of such in-kind remedies as specific performance of contractual obligations, injunctions for wrongful interference with property, compensation in development rights for takings of land, and apologies in defamation cases.

Conference on Empirical Legal Studies: University of Oslo, 11-12 June 2020

Due to the spread of COVID-19 and widespread introduction of restrictions on movement and assembly, the programme committee has, with deep regret, decided to postpone the conference in Oslo until 9-10 June 2022 … (more)

The Role of the Law of Unjust Enrichment in Asia: Online Conference, CUHK Graduate Law Center, Central, Hong Kong, 26 June 2020

The law of unjust enrichment is more or less recognized in all modern jurisdictions. The name suggests that nobody should enrich herself at the expense of another party. Details of even very fundamental aspects of the law of unjust enrichment are, however, highly disputed everywhere … (more)

IP Researchers Europe Conference: Geneva, 26-27 June 2020

Because of the COVID-19 health crisis, we have unfortunately decided that the safest course of action is to cancel IPRE 2020, which was planned for June 2020. We will organize the next edition of IPRE in late June 2021 … (more)

The 12th ISHTIP Annual Workshop, scheduled for 13-17 July at Bournemouth University, has been postponed to 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic … (more)

Obligations X: Harvard Law School, 14-17 July 2020

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, Obligations X, currently scheduled for July 14-17, must be postponed. Our fond hope is that we will be able to hold the conference, more or less with its current line-up of speakers, panels, and papers, in the summer of 2021. However, we cannot yet say for certain whether that timing will work … (more)

If law is centred on human action and practices, key questions concerning rationality and practical reason in law arise. How shall we formulate a sound conception of practical reason for law? What is the correct understanding of the structure of rationality for law and how it differs from the rationality of other human practices? … (more)

SLS Annual Conference: Exeter, 1-4 September 2020

After careful consideration, and in light of the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we have taken the decision to host the 111th Annual Conference of the Society of Legal Scholars virtually … (more)

Small Claims Dispute Resolution for Consumers – A European Approach: Brussels, 10 September 2020

The Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) are organising the final conference of the Small Claims Analysis Net (SCAN) project on the theme of Small Claims Dispute Resolution for Consumers (SCDRC 2020) … (more, call for papers)

We are pleased to invite submissions that aim to further comparative insight and learning on the ways in which different legal systems have grappled with particular public law and private law aspects of the pandemic … (more, call for papers)

The Conference on Empirical Legal Studies (CELS) meetings will not be held in 2020 … (more)

The Future of the Commercial Contract in Scholarship and Law Reform: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London, 16 October 2020

The 2020 conference explores topics in commercial contract law with a focus on sustainability, not only to combat climate change by contracts to promote the use of green energies but by supporting an ethical approach to supply chains … (more, call for papers)

This conference will bring together academics and legal practitioners to discuss recent developments relating to commercial contracts. Papers will be distributed before the conference, and the discussion started by an expert commentator … (more)

Paradigmatic Shifts in the History of Private Law (25th Ius Commune Workshop): Maastricht University, 26-27 November 2020

The workshops on ‘Comparative Legal History – Ius Commune in the Making’ aim to reveal and understand the nature and effects of various legal formants in the development of law. Indeed, forces of legal formants are too often lost or hidden beneath a superficies of commonalities … (more, call for papers)

Conference on Empirical Legal studies (CELSE): University of Oslo, 9-10 June 2022

The planned CELS-Europe 2022 conference will be held at the University of Oslo. A new call for papers will be announced in June 2021. The papers submitted for CELS-Europe 2020 can be considered afresh but new papers must be submitted if the current paper is published … (more)

Intermediaries play an important role in many aspects of commercial law. Yet there has been little focussed attention upon intermediaries as a crucial category of actors. The aim of this conference is to consider current issues concerning intermediaries from a number of different angles, adopting a range of methodological approaches … (more, call for papers)